On July 30, the
Security Investigation Agency of Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security carried
out arrests of four activists namely Pham Van Troi, Nguyen Trung Ton, Truong
Minh Duc and Nguyen Bac Truyen, charging them with “Carrying out activities
aimed at overthrowing the people's administration” under Article 79 of Vietnam’s
1999 Penal Code.

The detainees
will be held incommunicado in the next four months for investigation on the case
in which involve prominent human rights attorney Nguyen Van Dai and his
assistant Ms. Le Thu Ha who were arrested on December 16, 2015 and charged with
“conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the Penal Code, the
ministry said on its website.

In the morning of
Sunday, the agency carried out the arrests of Mr. Ton, Mr. Duc and Mr. Troi at
their private residences, and conducted house search, taking away a number of
their personnel items, including Bible books of Mr. Ton, who is a Protestant
pastor. Meanwhile, Mr. Truyen, head of Vietnamese Political & Religious
Prisoners Friendship Association, was reported to have been gone missing when he
was waiting for his wife at a gate of the Ky Dong Redemptory’s Church in Ho Chi
Minh City in the morning of the day. His wife failed to contact with him by
phone so she supposed he was kidnapped by local security forces.

All of the
detainees are former prisoners of conscience. Mr. Troi is a former president of
Brotherhood of Democracy formed by Mr. Dai while Mr. Ton is the organization’s
incumbent president and Mr. Duc is his deputy responsible for the southern
region. Duc is also a senior staff of the Viet Labor Movement.

The six activists
face imprisonment of between twelve and twenty years of imprisonment, life
imprisonment or capital punishment if are convicted, according to the country’s
current law.

Mr. Ton, 45, was a prisoner of conscience. He was arrested in 2011 and sentenced
to two years in prison on charges of “anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of
the Penal Code. Released in early 2013, he has continued to fight for human
rights and multi-party democracy. Recently, he was elected as the head of the
Brotherhood for Democracy.

In recent years, Mr. Ton and his family have been constantly harassed by local
authorities in Thanh Hoa province. In addition to publicly defaming him through
local media, the radio and loudspeakers in his neighborhood, plainclothes agents
have disrupted the business of his wife at a local wet market. They even
destroyed her booth of seafood products.

In late February, Ton and his friend were kidnapped, robbed and brutally beaten
by plainclothes agents in the central province of Quang Binh. His legs were
broken as the kidnappers used wooden sticks to beat him. He is still under
special treatment for injuries sustaining from the attack after long spending in
hospitals for surgery operation for his legs.

Mr. Troi, 46, was
arrested in 2008 and charged with “conducting anti-state propaganda” under
Article 88 of the Penal Code. Later, he was sentenced to four years in prison
and additional four years under house arrest.

After being
released in September 2012, he has continued to work for promoting human rights
and multi-party democracy. In 2014-2016, he was president of the unsanctioned
Brotherhood for Democracy founded by imprisoned human right lawyer Nguyen Van
Dai.

Mr. Duc, 57, was
arrested in 2007 and later sentenced to five years in prison on allegation of
“abusing democratic freedom” under Article 258 of the Penal Code. After being
released in May 2012, he has been under constant persecution, including physical
attacks. Currently, he is vice president of Viet Labor Movement. Hoang Duc Binh,
vice president of the movement, was arrested on May 15 and charged with
“resisting persons in the performance of their official duties” under Article
257 and “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the
state, the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and/or citizens”
under Article 258 of the Penal Code.

Meanwhile, Mr.
Truyen, 49, has been beaten many times by thugs since being released in May
2010. In 2006, he was arrested and charged with “conducting anti-state
propaganda” under Article 88. Later he was sentenced to 3.5 years.

The arrests and
allegations are part of Vietnam’s intensifying crackdown against local political
dissidents, human rights advocates, social activists and independent bloggers
amid increasing social dissatisfaction on systemic corruption, economic
mismanagement, heavy environmental pollution and other problems that the
Southeast Asian nation is facing.

On July 26,
police in the central province of Nghe An arrested Le Dinh Luong and charged him
with “Carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration”
under Article 79 of the Penal Code.

Within one month
from June 29, Vietnam sentenced two human rights defenders Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh
and Tran Thi Nga to nine and ten years in jail, respectively on charges of
“conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 88 of the Penal Code.

Dozens of
activists have been arrested and many of them sentenced to heavy imprisonments
since the beginning of 2016 when the ruling communist party held its National
Congress to elect the new leadership for the 2016-2020 period, with many police
generals being selected to key positions of the party and state apparatuses.

The communist
government has strived to keep the country under a one-party regime and make all
effort to prevent the formation of opposition party.